A bully can only make you feel bad about yourself if you let them.

I'm terribly attention-seeking. It's very different once you get all this attention, though. Because then you want to control it. And you can't exactly.

I was quite fat as a kid. And swimming is a sport you can enjoy whatever size you are. If you're fat, running is a pain. I'm not really built for running.

All you can do in this life is follow your dreams. Otherwise you're just wasting your time.

I thrive off the company of others, I love being sociable.

I was the kind of person who got bullied and loved the attention of it.

I've just swum the length of the Thames. I feel quite tired.

People think writing a children's book is something you could do in an afternoon but it's actually really hard.

I am a huge fan of 'Doctor Who.'

I was depressed as a child. I found it hard to make friends. My favourite thing was locking myself in the bathroom and practising comedy routines.

Children's books are often seen as the poor relation of literature. But children are just as demanding as adult readers, if not more so. I should know. I'm a children's writer myself.

In literature, as in love, one can only speak for himself.

Remove the computer chipslodged in your brain before they convince youthat you’ve gone insane…Take a bite out of realityinstead of becominga reality byte.

Our entire life - consists ultimately in accepting ourselves as we are.

The worst of our faults is our interest in other people's faults.

Runners...you're competitive, but you want to have fun, too. You want to enjoy life. And runners really get to do that, I think-after we recover.

I am a daylight atheist.

It's going to take a lot of love to make things work out right.

What unleashes action is an individual's willingness to make mistakes - even to look foolish or stupid.

I'll sing as long as I can because I enjoy doing that. I enjoy the fans and what I do. I love the traveling and the hotels and just seeing the world over and over again.

I love to be directed, and I can glean something from almost anyone.